by Rebecca Light
The October Lit Mingle carried out its own Halloween
tradition by discussing something truly scary—writer’s block. We began our
circle of introductions with where we found ourselves on the spectrum of
writer’s block—a “1” being the magical unicorns who never experience writer’s
block, and a “10” being the extreme sufferers. The group landed all over the
spectrum. What we discovered through this exercise was that we have varying definitions
of writer’s block.
For some, writer’s block represents the time-honored
experience of staring at a blank page; for others it can be the frustration of
not knowing where your story goes next. One mingler shared notes from a blog by
Mary
Robinette Kowal, who broke down the concept into four categories: drowsy,
staring, restless, and dithering.
Writer’s block can be external (the story presents the challenge)
or internal (something going on with you presents the challenge). While the
former is a frustrating aspect of the writing process, many of us identified
with the latter being an all-too-common foe.
An interesting discussion sprung out of a quote shared from The War of Art, by Steven Pressfield:
“Because
when we sit down day after day and keep grinding, something mysterious starts
to happen. A process is set into motion by which, inevitably and infallibly,
heaven comes to our aid. Unseen forces enlist in our cause; serendipity
reinforces our purpose.”
There’s no universal fix for writer’s block or the fears
that accompany any artistic endeavor, but remember—the pen is mightier than the
sword. Keep writing.
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